400 illegal boats have arrived in Australia this financial year - almost four times as many as last financial year, making it the biggest ever on record, Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection Michael Keenan said.

“The fact that since Mr Rudd resumed the Prime Ministership, we have had four more illegal boat arrivals announced, with a total of 259 people on board, is just a reminder that this is one of his greatest failures as Prime Minister.

“How can the very man, who was responsible for this border crisis, be trusted to stop the people smuggling trade he reinvigorated as Prime Minister.

“Kevin Rudd has spent three years plotting his return to the Prime Ministership so on that basis one would assume he had answers to this crisis at our borders yet unsurprisingly we haven’t seen any evidence of that yet.

“The Coalition has a plan to put an end to the people smuggling trade - a plan that will work because it has already done so in the past,” Mr Keenan said.